Thursday, 15 December 2011

Well the reason I haven't been blogging for the past few months is simply house renovation, if there is an activity that can consume all the available time that you have, then this is it! I bought my house at a public auction in june and knew it would need total renovation, it was previously owned by an elderly lady, and there hadn't been any work done on the property in perhaps 15 years. So with that in mind I set out a plan of what needed doing and where to start, all walls that were to be knocked down were duly knocked down, electrics, plastering, new central heating, and other assorted time consuming activities followed. Now I've more or less finished, there is just a A4 page of snags to be rectified at the weekend.
I have made my own kitchen, and just have the knobs to fit. The budget didn't quite stretch to making my own work-tops(central heating ate most of the cash), so I bought some ready made ones in, however I have allowed these to be easily removable if I can't live with them at a later date. Tiles are limestone and were a bit of a challenge to lay, but I got there in the end.

Heres a few snaps of it during construction, and some nearly finished shots too.

Little curved base unit.

Double bank of pan drawers.

And together.

Fitted in situ.

Work-tops fitted, floors laid.

Nearly there, just a few more jobs to go. I will take a picture of the Elm floor that I laid down in the dining room tomorrow, thanks for looking.

Saturday, 29 October 2011

What you are seeing here, is a start to my bulk buying timber that requires seasoning. One of my friends owns a saw mill that cuts up logs for things like pallets, potato crates, and construction beams. Now some of the logs are unsuitable for this, being too knotty and or some rot. But there is still loads of usable timber for a furniture maker, this is where I step in, and decide if the log is any good for me. His yard is about eight miles from me, so he gives me a call when something of interest comes in, and I take a look and say how I would like the log cut. I had this Oak log cut up in various thicknesses 1", 2", and 4", but I also had two 14 footers cut to an inch and a quarter that are to become a book-matched table top.

As you can see its all in stick at the present, and it will be at least a year and a half before I can start to use some of it. But when I do, I will have some lovely timber to choose from. It doesn't stop there of course, I have a spalted beech log being cut up this week, also I am going over to his this week to tell him how I would like a large white Ash tree converted, as well as a Cedar tree.

These two 4" lumps are English Walnut, and are destined to become two chairs when seasoned. I think some of the furniture I make from this new timber will become speculative pieces, or I have been toying with the idea of exhibiting some contemporary furniture of my own design in the future. Thanks for looking.

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Sorry for the rather long gap between postings, what with one thing and another, time has been very tight lately. But I have my whole house to furnish soon, starting with my kitchen. Anyway here is a short review of my new planer thicknesser,

Ordered this machine in July, it was delivered this week, a long wait for sure, but it was worth it, and a week earlier than stated. It was explained to me at the time, that there would be this wait. Mainly because they have just changed the design a bit and new machinery for making these was being installed in Austria.

I’m making my own kitchen at the moment, and I’ve wasted no time putting this machine through it paces. It delivers smooth, flat, and square timber. The fence is robust, and doesn’t have a massive centre bar, so can be pushed right back flat to the wall. Both tables flip at the same time, and the change over from planer to thicknesser is very fast with just two decent solid handles that quick release both beds. I have the wheel kit on mine, and would say this is an essential add on if your tight for space(as I am). I also opted for the digital readout on the thicknesser, and would say this is a good option also. On my older P/T the extraction wasn't that efficient, so using the fitted hood on the A3-41 was a revelation, the extractor hood is very efficient at picking up all but a few of the chips, and after machining for most of the day there was perhaps a handful of chips around the machine.

Now the bad bits, this machine has been keenly priced to be in-line with its competitors, so there have been a few corners cut on things like adjusting knobs. These feel cheap and nasty, and I don’t feel they have much longevity or a place on a machine in this class. The manual was all in German, but they are sending me an English version this coming week(it came the next day).

That being said, I wish I had got my hands on one sooner, the smooth finish alone has made sanding a much quicker job now, and I’m very happy with this machine. I would however, probably of paid a few pounds more to get metal adjustment knobs instead of the few(not all) plastic ones its supplied with. Hope this helps.

Edit...

I have since used this planer a lot and have tested the full width with oak, I have taken 2mm off in one hit, and the machine handled it without missing a beat.

Thursday, 14 July 2011

This is one of two desks that I have to make, I'm doing this one first as the other was ordered at a later date.

Onto the timber I selected for the top, this needs to finish at 1380 mm x 620 mm x 23 mm. This board measures 2.8 m x 305 mm, so should finish at about 600 mm. This means I need to glue a 20 mm piece in and hope to get a good grain match.

All machined up, I shoot the edges in by hand. Talking of shooting planes, an old record that i bought from ebay arrived today(forgot to take pic's but it seems a good-un).

Glue up the top, I've used titebond II for this, and left over-nite.

The grain match is good because I can't see which side it was now.

Onto the carcase sides, there are four to do, and they are to match the window seat I made a few weeks ago. I fielded these on my spindle moulder.

Carcase in dry fit, the gap at the top of the top rail is for a piece of poplar so I can glue the scotia moulding to the carcase.

Both carcases glued up and backs fitted.

Sometimes on my planer, chips collect between the rollers, and can cause a rather large scratch all the way down whatever go's in.

So out with the iron, and damp cloth.

Quick sand and scratch gone.

Glued up the two pedestals to make the kneehole, the eagle eyed among you may notice a small error?

Top fixed down with shrinkage plates.

Plinth fixed on, I'm still undecided weather to make bracket feet, think I will draw some out and see how its looks.

Friday, 24 June 2011

This pair are pretty much finished, bit more to do on the window seat, and just a couple of coats of hard wax oil. Next time you see them they will be fitted, and I will update then. No wip pic's, as they are pretty straightforward.

Wall hung book shelves in European ash, cornice/crown moulding looks huge, but is going about 8' up so needs to be large. Shelves are adjustable, just on simple posts.

Corner detail on bottom shelf.

Ash window seat with compartment under the lid.

There are a couple of oak veneered panels going on the inside to hide all fixings.

Corner detail, I still need to plane the top rail a touch to get it to fit snug.

Thats what I've been up to for the last couple of days, thanks for looking.

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Just got these fitted today, clients were very happy, and they have something that cannot be bought off the shelf.

Rear of the door showing the continuous brace, only available when you buy custom made.

It was also a good opportunity to take some finished pic's of the wardrobes and cabinets I made for them recently. The clients have now decorated, and I think the new ledge and brace doors go rather well with the wardrobes. You might be able to see at the bottom of the picture, the hand made blanket chest I made a few months ago also.

Sunday, 12 June 2011

I've been meaning to get these finished for a couple of weeks, but have been tied up on the wardrobe job. These are going to look very traditional, and the oak is stunning. Starting with a pile of machined timber...

Then apply the ledges and braces

Then nail, I'm using hand-made looking nails for this(that cost a small fortune), and they look great.

All nailed in place.

Two down one to go.

I will get these finished this week with a view to fit the following, thanks for looking.